4 Neuropathic Pain Treatment Options

Do you have a tingling sensation in your toes and fingers? Is your leg or foot pain keeping you awake at night? Would you describe the pain in your extremities as a burning sensation or does it feels like a sharp electrical jolt? Do you have trouble walking? It may be time to ask your doctor about neuropathy and which neuropathic pain treatment options are best for you.

If you have experienced any of these sensations you might have neuropathy, a condition that is best described as pain resulting from nerve damage in your extremities. Essentially the body isn’t working properly because the messages being sent from the brain to the extremities are being affected.

Patients report symptoms of decreased sensitivity or increased sensation like tingling, itching, pain or pins and needles numbness in their extremities. The severity of these symptoms varies from mild to severe.

Photo Credit: Molika Ashford

The decreased sensitivity is demonstrated by muscle weakness, numbness or lack of temperature sensation or tremors. Patients have described feeling both kinds of sensations because they may overlap.

Who Has It?

Neuropathy is a condition that affects between 10 and 20 million Americans, and the most susceptible population to get the condition is diabetics. About 70 percent of diabetics experience neuropathic pain and the common culprit is chronic high blood sugar levels, according to dLife, a television series for diabetics. Neuropathy is most prevalent in diabetics who have lived with the disease for more than 25 years, according to dLife.

There are treatment options for neuropathic pain, which is a treatable condition. Arizona Health Pros has designed neuropathic pain treatment options that help heal the nerves and reduce pain.

Firstly, a patient seeking neuropathic pain treatment should start with a medical exam and discuss his medical history with the doctor. During the exam, the doctor will assess sensitivity on the soles of the feet either using a tuning fork to see if the patient can sense the vibrations or with a piece of plastic fiber called a monofilament that is run across the bottom of the feet at varying degrees of pressure.

Your doctor may also order an ultrasound before prescribing treatment to assess the blood flow through the body.

What To Do?

Neuropathy is a treatable condition; in fact, neuropathic pain treatment is one of the specialties of Arizona Health Pros in Phoenix, AZ. If it’s caught early enough, it’s possible to reduce the nerve damage with changes in lifestyle like getting blood sugar levels under control. The following are four neuropathic pain treatment options:

Nerve Stimulation

Some doctors use Electrical Nerve Stimulation to stimulate the nerves for therapy. This involves applying electrodes to the skin that produce currents or pulses with varying intensity. Essentially the way this method works is the electrical stimulation suppresses pain perception.

Studies show that many patients respond to this kind of non-invasive nerve stimulation. This method is becoming more widely used and is having more success at relieving pain as more research is collected.

Peripheral Infiltrate Nerve Block

This is a deliberate move to interrupt the signals travelling along the nerve to achieve pain relief. The purpose of this procedure is to block the nerve to alleviate pain temporarily in a specific area. This usually involves local anesthetic to block the nerve for hours or possibly days. Depending on the pain area, the injection can be made below the knee or at the ankle.

This type of treatment is widely used especially after knee surgery and is considered non-invasive.

Nutritional Support

Many doctors prescribe narcotic pain medications or over the counter drugs like Motrin to address the pain patients are feeling. Few of these drugs help or provide moderate aid.

Arizona Health Pros proposes a different solution to address the pain and encourage the nerves to heal. Many nutritional supplements can jump start your body into healing. Significant results from this neuropathic pain treatment are usually experienced after three to 12 months. You should also balance the supplements with the vitamins you are consuming in your diet.

Lipoic acid is a vitamin considered to be an antioxidant and prevents cell damage in the body and restores Vitamin C and Vitamin E levels. The vitamin is found in liver, kidney, spinach, broccoli and potatoes. Or you can take 300 mg twice a day.

Acetyl L-Carnitine is an amino acid that is naturally produced by the body and helps it make energy. This amino acid is important for a healthy heart, brain function and muscle movement. In addition to helping reduce nerve pain, it also helps improve memory. Take 500 to 1,500 mg twice a day.

Inositol is a sugar found in the body and helps play a role in cell structure and signaling. A decreased level of inositol in the body has been linked to a number of diseases. Take 500 to 1,000 mg each day.

Vitamin B6 is a vitamin found in meat, fish, beans, eggs and nuts. It is well known to aid diabetics with neuropathic pain symptoms. The vitamin helps the body make neurotransmitters that carry signals to nerve cells. Take 50 to 100 mg a day.

Vitamin B12 is a vitamin found in meat, fish and dairy products. It can also be artificially made. A decline in Vitamin B12 is often seen in senior citizens with anemia and neurological disorders. This vitamin helps with memory loss and is critical to nerve development. Take 500 to 5,000 mg per day.

Pain Cream

This is also called a topical medication. This is a cream that includes capsaicin, which is what makes chili peppers hot, can temporarily reduce pain so reapplications will be necessary.

A compound pharmacist can make a cream containing other skin numbing agents lie Ketamin, an anesthetic medication, or Lidocaine, an anesthetic numbing agent.

There are also some over-the-counter creams that contain large doses of Vitamin B12 and Vitamin E so make sure if you are taking the dietary supplements that you don’t go over the recommended dosage with a cream. The creams with added vitamins are often targeted at neuropathic pain sufferers who have the condition because of a vitamin deficiency.

If you are seeking out help to cope with your neuropathic pain, know there are treatment options available. Arizona Health Pros in Phoenix can help you explore your choices and pick the program best suited to your lifestyle. Contact us for a consultation and we’ll help you choose a solution to address your symptoms and get you back on the road to feeling better.

Head to our homepage and find out how you can download “Understanding Peripheral Neuropathy – A Guide to Managing your Pain”. You too can be pain-free!